Cooking Appliance

ABSTRACT

Provided is a cooker. The cooker includes a cavity including a cooking chamber; and a burner disposed in the cavity, receiving a mixed gas of a gas and air, and generating a flame by burning the mixed gas, in which the burner includes a supplier supplying the gas and the air and at least one combustor receiving the gas and the air from the supplier and including a plurality of flame holes generating the flame, and the combustor includes a gap capable of shifting the flame by communicating between the plurality of flame holes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 118B and 35U.S.C. 365 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0073538(filed onJul. 28, 2008) and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0033886(filedon Apr. 17, 2009), which are hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cooker.

2. Description of the Related Art

A cooker is an appliance cooking a cooking food by using a heat as aheat source. The heat source may use a burner generating a heat byburning a gas.

The burner includes a plurality of flame holes burning the gas and theplurality of flame holes are separated from each other at a constantinterval.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention had been made in an effort to provide a cookercapable of smoothly shifting flames between adjacent flame holes.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a cookerincluding: a cavity including a cooking chamber; and a burner disposedin the cavity, receiving a mixed gas of a gas and air, and generating aflame by burning the mixed gas, in which the burner includes a suppliersupplying the gas and the air and at least one combustor receiving thegas and the air from the supplier and including a plurality of flameholes generating the flame, and the combustor includes a gap capable ofshifting the flame by communicating between the plurality of flameholes.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a cookerincluding: a cavity including a cooking chamber; and a burner disposedin the cavity and including a supplier supplying a gas and an air and atleast one combustor receiving the gas and the air from the supplier andincluding a plurality of flame holes generating the flame; in which thecombustor includes an upper case and a lower case, flame hole formingportions for forming the plurality of flame holes are formed to beseparated from each other at any one of the lower case and the uppercase, two forming portions of the flame holes which are adjacent to eachother are connected by a connecting portion, and when the upper case areconnected to the lower case, the connecting portion is separated from apart of the other one of the upper case and the lower case facing theconnecting portion.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since aninterval between ends of adjacent flame holes is smaller than an theinterval between other portions, the flame generated in any one flamehole can be further easily shifted to the adjacent flame hole.

Further, as a gap for communicating between a plurality of flame holesis formed in the combustor, the flame shift between the adjacent flameholes can be smoothly implemented.

Further, as the flame shift between the adjacent flame holes is smoothlyimplemented, flame intensity (flame hole load) may be substantiallyuniform in the entire flame holes. As such, when the flame intensity issubstantially uniform in the entire flame holes, the cooking food can beuniformly heated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooker according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an oven burner and a reflector accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an oven burner according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a flame hole structure of an oven burner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment will be described in detail withreference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooker according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofan oven burner and a reflector according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cooker 1 according to the exemplaryembodiment includes a top plate part 100, an oven part 200, a drawerpart 300, and a control part 400.

The top plate part 100, the oven part 200, and the drawer part 300 areprovided at the top, the center, and the bottom of a main body 10 of thecooker 1, respectively. In addition, the control part 400 is provided ata rear end on the top of the main body 10 corresponding to the rear ofthe top plate part 100.

The top plate part 100 includes a plurality of top plate burners 110.The top plate burner 110 cooks a cooking food by directly heating acontainer containing the cooking food with flame generated by burning agas.

The front end of the top plate part 100 includes a plurality of knobs120. The knobs 120 control open and close or open degree of a valve (notshown) adjusting supply or not and supply amount of the gas into the topplate burner 110.

The oven part 200 includes a cavity 210 having a cooking chamber 211. Anoven burner for heating the cooking food housed in the cooking chamber211 and a reflector 600 provided on the top of the oven burner 500 areincluded in the cavity 210. Although not shown in the drawing, anadditional heat source for heating the cooking food housed in thecooking chamber 211 in addition to the oven burner 500 may be furtherprovided in the inside or outside of the cavity 210.

The cooking chamber 211 is selectively opened and closed by a door 220.The cooking chamber 211 is opened and closed by the door 220 in apull-down method in which an upper end of the door is vertically rotatedbased on a lower end of the door. A handle 221 held with a user's handin order to rotate the door 220 is provided at the top front of the door220

In addition, the drawer part 300 acts to warm the container containingthe cooking food at a predetermined temperature. The drawer part 300includes a drawer 310 storing the container.

The control part 400 receives an operational signal for the operation ofthe cooker 1, more particularly, an operational signal for the operationof at least one of the top plate part 100, the oven part 200, and thedrawer part 300. In addition, the control part 400 acts to externallydisplay various kinds of information on the operation of the cooker 1.

The oven burner 500 is disposed at the inner top of the cavity 210. Theoven burner 500 acts to radiative-heat directly the cooking food in thecooking chamber 211 by a flame generated by burning the gas.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an oven burner according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention and FIG. 4 is a side view showing aflame hole structure of an oven burner.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the oven burner 500 includes a supplier 510supplying a mixed gas of gas and air, a plurality of combustors 530,550, and 570 and a distributer 520 distributing the mixed gas suppliedfrom the supplier 510 to the plurality of combustors 530, 550, and 570,and a communicator 590 communicating the plurality of combustors 530,550, and 570. The plurality of combustors 530, 550, and 570 constitutesa combusting unit.

The supplier 510 acts to transfer the air which flows together in thesupplying of the gas supplied from a nozzle (not shown) to thedistributor 520.

In addition, an end of the supplier 510 passes through the sidewall ofthe cavity 210. Unlike, a part of the nozzle may be arranged with theend of the supplier 510 by pass through the sidewall of the cavity 210.

The gas and air flowed into the supplier 510 are transferred to thedistributer 520 in a form of the gas mixed while flowing in the supplier510.

The plurality of combustors 530, 550, and 570 include a first combustor530, a second combustor 550, and a third combustor 570.

In detail, the first combustor 530 is formed in a linear shape andextends in the front and rear directions of the cavity 210 with the ovenburner 500 disposed in the cavity 210.

The second combustor 550 and the third combustor 570 include auxiliaryportions 552 and 572 extending substantially perpendicular to the firstcombustor 530 in the distributer 520 and main portions 554 and 574 bentin the auxiliary portions 552 and 572 to be substantially parallel tothe first combustor 530. Accordingly, the main portion 554 of the secondcombustor 550 is positioned at one side separated from the firstcombustor 530 and the main portion 574 of the third combustor 570 ispositioned at the other side separated from the first combustor 530.

The supplier 510 is disposed to substantially be parallel to the each ofthe auxiliary portions 552 and 572 and a connected portion with thedistributer 520 may be bent. Accordingly, the supplier 510 extendstoward the second combustor 550 or the third combustor 570 from thedistributer 520. For example, FIG. 3 shows that the supplier 510 extendstoward the third combustor 570.

Accordingly, the gas and air flowing in the supplier 510 flows into thedistributer 520 by change a direction at the connected portion of thedistributer 520 and the supplier 510.

In this case, since the flow direction of the gas and air flowing intothe distributer 520 is substantially the same as the extending directionof the first combustor 530, the gas and air may move much more to thefirst combustor 530 from the distributer 520. Accordingly, adistributing guide 522 for distributing the gas and air to the secondcombustor 550 and the third combustor 570 may be provided at thedistributer 520.

The distributing guide 522 is formed by a part of the distributer 520dent to the inside of a channel of the distributer 520. Unlike this, thedistributing guide 522 manufactured with a separate object may bedisposed in the distributer.

In addition, a plurality of flame holes 526 for generating a flame areformed in each of the combustors 530, 550, and 570.

In detail, the plurality of flame holes 526 are formed at both sides ofthe first combustor 530. Accordingly, the flame may be generated at bothsides of the first combustor 530.

The plurality of flame holes 526 are formed at one side of the mainportion 552 of the second combustor 550. The one side of the mainportion 552 faces the first combustor 530. The plurality of flame holes526 are formed at one side of the main portion 574 of the thirdcombustor 570. The one side of the main portion 574 faces the firstcombustor 530. That is, the flame is generated at only one side of eachof the main portions 554 and 574.

The each of the flame holes 526 includes inside holes 527 and outsideholes 528. One ends of the inside holes 527 are communicated with theinner portion of each of the combustors 530, 550, and 570. The insideholes 527 are formed in a hall shape having a predetermined diameter.

One ends of the outside holes 528 are communicated with the inside holes527 and the other ends of the outside holes 528 are communicated withthe cooking chamber 211. In addition, the mixed gas is substantiallyburned at the ends of the outside holes 528 communicated with thecooking chamber 211.

The outside holes 528 are formed in a corn shape in which a diameter isincreased toward the other end communicated with the cooking chamber 211from one end communicated with the inside holes 527. That is, across-sectional area of the channel of the outside holes 528 is largerthan that of the inside holes 527. In addition, the cross-sectional areaof the channel of the outside holes 528 is increased toward the cookingchamber 211 from the ends of the outside holes 528 adjacent to theinside holes 527.

Accordingly, intervals between the outside holes 528 of the flame holes526 adjacent to each other are relatively decreased. Therefore, a flameshift in the adjacent flame holes may be easily implemented.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 4, the oven burner 500 is constituted bycombining a lower case 501 and an upper case 502.

In addition, the lower case 501 and the upper case 502 may be fastenedby, for example, a screw S. Unlike this, the lower case 501 and theupper case 502 may be fastened by a rivet. In the exemplary embodiment,a fastening method of the lower case 501 and the upper case 502 is notlimited.

Forming portions 505 of the flame holes for forming the plurality offlame holes 526 are formed at any one or both of the lower case 501 andthe upper case 502. For example, FIG. 4 shows that the forming portions505 of the flame holes are formed at the lower case 501.

A part of the lower case 501 is foamed to form the plurality of flamehole forming portions 505. In addition, two forming portions of theflame holes which are adjacent to each other are connected by aconnecting portion 504.

In addition, when the lower case 501 and the upper case 502 areconnected, a gap 508 for shifting a flame is formed between at least oneflame hole and a flame hole adjacent thereto. That is, the lower case501 and the upper case 502 are separated from each other, except for thefastened portion of the lower case 501 and the upper case 502. A gapforming portion 503 may be formed at the upper case 502 in order toseparating the lower case 501 from the upper case 502. Of course, whenthe flame hole forming portion is formed at the upper case, the gapforming portion may be formed at the lower case.

That is, when the lower case 501 and the upper case 502 are connected,the connecting portion 504 is separated from the gap forming portion 503facing the connecting portion 504.

In addition, a longitudinal length of the gap 508 is smaller than thatof the flame hole 526.

As such, according to the exemplary embodiment, the flame shift betweenthe adjacent flame holes separated from each other may be smoothlyimplemented by the gap 508 for shifting the flame.

In particular, although an operational mode of the oven burner 500 is aweak mode (mode having a weak flame), the flame shift between theadjacent flame holes may be smoothly implemented.

Further, as the flame shift between the adjacent flame holes is smoothlyimplemented, flame intensity (flame hole load) may be substantiallyuniform in the entire flame holes. As such, when the flame intensity issubstantially uniform in the entire flame holes, the cooking food may beuniformly heated.

The communicator 590 connects the ends of each of the combustors 530,550, 570 to make pressure equilibrium among the combustors 530, 550,570. When the pressure equilibrium in each of the combustors 530, 550,570 is made, it is possible to prevent combusting performance in aspecific combustor from being deteriorated.

Meanwhile, the reflector 600 is disposed between the ceiling surface 212of the cavity 210 and the oven burner 500.

The reflector 600 reflects the flame and the heat generated by burningthe gas in the oven burner 500 toward the lower part, that is, thecooking food in the cooking chamber 211. In addition, the reflector 600acts to flow the burned gas generated by burning the gas in the ovenburner 500 through a space between the upper part of the reflector 600,that is, the ceiling surface of the cooking chamber 211 and the uppersurface of the reflector 600.

Referring to FIG. 2, the reflector 600 includes a reflecting portion610, a discharging portion 620, a cover portion 640, and a fixing flange630. In addition, the reflecting portion 610 includes a plurality offirst connecting surfaces 611, a slant surface 613, and a secondconnecting surface 615.

The plurality of first connecting surfaces 611 are laterally formed tohave a predetermined width and is disposed just above the combustors530, 550, and 570. The number of the first connecting surfaces 611 isdetermined depending on the number of the combustors. In addition, theslant surface 613 extends to be slant upwardly from the end of the firstconnecting surface 611 at a predetermined angle. Further, the secondconnecting surface 615 is disposed between the slant surfaces 613adjacent to each other to connect the end of the slant surface 613. inaddition, the burned gas generated in the burning of the gas in the ovenburner 500 is concentrated in a space between the second connectingsurface 615 and two slant surfaces 613 adjacent to the second surface615.

The fixing flange 630 is provided at each of the front and rear ends ofboth upper side ends of the reflecting portion 610. The fixing flange630 fixes the reflecting portion 610 to ceiling surface of the cookingchamber 211. Substantially, parts of the front and rear ends of thefirst connecting surface 611 and the slant surface 613 are cut and bentupwardly to form the fixing flange 630.

The discharging portion 620 discharges the burned gas, which isgenerated in the burning of the gas in the oven burner 500 andconcentrated in the space between the oven burner 500 and the reflectingportion 610, that is, the space between the second connecting surface615 and two slant surfaces 613 adjacent to the second surface 615, intoa space between the ceiling surface of the cooking chamber 211 and thereflecting portion 610. For this, a part of the second connectingsurface 615 is lengthily cut forward and backward to form thedischarging portion 620.

In addition, the cover portion 640 guides the burned gas which isgenerated in the burning of the gas in the oven burner 500 to be evenlyspread into the space between the top of the reflector 600 and theceiling surface of the cooking chamber 211.

For this, the cover portion 640 is formed in a plate shape having anapproximately size corresponding to the discharging portion 620. Inaddition, the cover portion 640 is disposed just above the dischargingportion 620. Accordingly, the flame and the heat generated by burningthe gas in the oven burner 500 do not flow into the space between thetop of the reflector 600 and the ceiling surface of the cooking chamber211 through the discharging portion 620 and are reflected into the lowerpart, that is, in the cooking chamber 211 by the cover portion 640.Further, the burned gas discharged through the discharging portion 620is evenly spread to be guided to the front and the rear or/and the rightand the left by the cover portion 640.

In addition, fixing ribs are provided at the front and rear ends of thecover portion 640. The fixing rib fixes the cover portion 640 to thereflecting portion 610. In the exemplary embodiment, the fixing rib isformed in an approximately “L” shape so as to be provided at the frontand rear ends of the cover portion 640, respectively. Of course, thecover portion 640 may be integrally formed with the reflector 600. Inother words, two cut lines longitudinally parallel to each other areformed at the second connecting surface 615 and a part of the secondconnecting surface 615 corresponding to the space between the cut linesis upwardly bent to form the discharging portion 620 and the coverportion 640.

Hereinafter, an operation of the cooker will be described.

First, a user operates the control part 400 to input an operationalsignal for cooking the cooking food using the oven part 200. Inaddition, when the operational signal is inputted through the controlpart 400, the oven burner 500 is operated and the cooking food in thecooking chamber 211 is cooked.

In detail, the flame is generated by burning the gas and the airsupplied to the oven burner 500. In addition, the cooking food in thecooking chamber 211 is directly cooked by the flame and the heatgenerated in the oven burner 500. In this case, the flame and the heatgenerated by burning the gas in the oven burner 500 are reflected towardthe cooking food in the cooking chamber 211 by the reflector 600.

Meanwhile, the burned gas generated in the burning of the gas in theoven burner 500 is concentrated in the space between the ceiling surfaceof the cooking chamber 211 and the reflector 600, more particularly, thespace between the second connecting surface 615 of the reflector 600 andtwo slant surfaces 613 adjacent to the second surface 615. As such, theburned gas which is concentrated in the space between the secondconnecting surface 615 of the reflector 600 and two slant surfaces 613flows into the upper part, that is, the space between the ceilingsurface of the cooking chamber 211 and the reflector 600 through thedischarging portion 620.

1. A cooker, comprising: a cavity including a cooking chamber; and aburner disposed in the cavity, receiving a mixed gas mixed a gas andair, and generating a flame by burning the mixed gas, wherein the burnerincludes, a supplier supplying the gas and the air; and at least onecombustor receiving the gas and the air from the supplier and includinga plurality of flame holes generating the flame, wherein the combustorincludes a gap capable of shifting the flame by communicating betweenthe plurality of flame holes.
 2. The cooker of claim 1, wherein thecombustor includes an upper case and a lower case connected with theupper case, a flame hole forming portion for forming the plurality offlame holes is provided at one or more of the upper case and the lowercase, and when the upper case and the lower case are connected, theupper case and the lower case are separated from each other at a spacebetween plurality of flame holes.
 3. The cooker of claim 2, wherein agap forming portion for forming the gap is formed at the upper case andthe lower case.
 4. The cooker of claim 1, wherein the combustor isprovided in plural and the supplier is connected with the plurality ofcombustors by a distributer.
 5. The cooker of claim 1, wherein alongitudinal length of the gap is smaller than that of the flame hole.6. The cooker of claim 1, wherein the combustors are disposed to belevel with the inner part of the cavity.
 7. The cooker of claim 1,wherein an interval between ends of the adjacent flame holes is smallerthan that of other portions.
 8. The cooker of claim 7, wherein eachflame hole includes inside holes communicated with the inner space ofthe combustor and outside holes disposed at the outside of the insideholes and communicated with the cooking chamber, and a cross-sectionalarea of the channel of the outside holes is larger than that of theinside holes.
 9. The cooker of claim 8, wherein the cross-sectional areaof the channel of the outside holes is increased as far away from theinside hole.
 10. A cooker, comprising: a cavity including a cookingchamber; and a burner disposed in the cavity and including a suppliersupplying a gas and an air and at least one combustor receiving the gasand the air from the supplier and including a plurality of flame holesgenerating the flame, wherein the combustor includes an upper case and alower case, flame hole forming portions for forming the plurality offlame holes are formed to be separated from each other at any one of thelower case and the upper case, two flame hole forming portions which areadjacent to each other are connected by a connecting portion, and whenthe upper case are connected to the lower case, the connecting portionis separated from a part of the other one of the upper case and thelower case facing the connecting portion.
 11. The cooker of claim 1,wherein the combustor is provided in plural, the supplier is connectedwith the plurality of combustors by a distributer, and some parts of theplurality of combustors are parallel to each other.
 12. The cooker ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of combustors are disposed to be levelwith the inner part of the cavity.
 13. The cooker of claim 10, wherein aseparate distance between the connecting portion and a part of the otherone of the upper case and the lower case facing the connecting portionis smaller than the longitudinal length of the flame hole.
 14. Thecooker of claim 10, wherein each flame hole includes inside holescommunicated with the inner space of the combustor and outside holesdisposed at the outside of the inside holes and communicated with thecooking chamber, and a cross-sectional area of the channel of theoutside holes is larger than that of the inside holes.
 15. The cooker ofclaim 14, wherein the cross-sectional area of the channel of the outsideholes is increased as far away from the inside holes.